Chinese police raided four churches last week

 

08/23/2022 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that in the last few days, multiple house churches across China fell victim to raids by authorities, with their leaders taken away for trumped up charges.  

Xi’an Abundant Church  

On Aug. 17, Pastor Lian Chang-Nian and his wife Guo Jiuju, his son Pastor Lian Xuliang and wife Zhang Jun along with their 9-year-old son, Preacher Fu Juan, and sister Xing Aiping from Xi’an’s Abundant Church were taken to Shilipu police station after their homes were raided.   

The following day, the adults were handcuffed and brought to their church for a staged photoshoot. The authorities announced after the photoshoot the verdict of their ‘crimes’ – illegal gathering, illegal venue, and illegal collection of funds. A church member who witnessed the process said Pastor Lian Xuliang had several injuries to his head and arms, proof of his mistreatment.  

That evening while the pastors’ wives and sister Xing were released, the Lians and Preacher Fu were still missing. The father and son duo are being held under residential surveillance at a designated location in Shaanxi province for “fraud.”  

Linfen Holy Covenant Church  

On Aug. 19 around 7 p.m., 70 members of Linfen Holy Covenant Church in Shanxi province were enjoying an outdoor family camp, when 170 police officers raided the location and suppressed church coworkers Li Jie and Han Xiaodong. Everyone was searched and had his or her cell phone confiscated. No one was spared from being led away by the police.  

In the meantime, police also searched Li and Han’s homes and removed documents and books. Li, his wife Li Shanshan, and Han went missing after the raid. Another member, Hou Guobao, ran into the police and was also taken away.   

Nujiang Ethnic Nu Christians  

On Aug. 19, the families of ethnic Nu Christians Wang Shunping and Nu Sangdeng received criminal detention notices of the two Christian men. Wang and Nu were detained for “allegedly organizing and sponsoring illegal gathering” by Fugong County’s Public Security Bureau in Nujiang Prefecture.   

Brother San Luopo and two Christian women from out of town were also reportedly detained but no official document has been issued.   
  
Changchun city’s House of Light Church  
  
On Aug. 21, the House of Light Church in Jilin province’s Changchun was raided by police during its Sunday worship. The authorities dispersed everyone before taking Pastor Zhang Yong (aka Guo Muyun), elder Qu Hongliang, and brother Zhang Liangliang away.  
  
Due to the violent nature of the raid, two female members suffered heart attacks and an ambulance was called.  

The detained Christians were released around 1 a.m. on Aug. 22, though the men were treated brutally while in detention. They must report back to the police this Saturday.  

The latest series of crackdowns comes a week after Chengdu-based Early Rain Covenant Church and Beijing Zion Church saw their members arrested during a Sunday service. It is unclear why Beijing intensified its crackdown on house churches.  
  
Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness shared with ICC, “Just like what the newly elected president of the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, Beijing Archbishop Joseph Li Shan, said, ‘The church authority needs to submit to the [Chinese Communist Party] regime; one must listen to the party.’ This latest round of persecution seeks to strictly control people’s thoughts.”  

According to Liu, the churches that were raided over the weekend mostly follow reformed tradition, which stresses the church’s independence, whereas some evangelical or charismatic house churches he knows firmly advocate for patriotism.   
  
“Xi Jinping’s regime is fearful of many things; one thing being people with religious beliefs,” said Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia. “They want to ensure Chinese citizens are loyal to the CCP’s ideology and nothing else. This fear translates into church crackdown, ‘re-education camps’ for Uyghurs, and demolition of Buddhist statues. House churches are bracing themselves for potentially the worst clampdown since the Cultural Revolution."

 
 For interviews, please contact: press@persecution.org.

Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of advocacy, awareness, and assistance. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.

Example of sharia law in northern Nigeria

 Nigeria’s Kano State High Court doubled down on a ruling that the Sharia court system has the power to hand down death sentences in blasphemy cases. The decision blurs the line between what can be tried in Sharia court, raising concerns on the implications for religious freedom.  

The three-judge panel held that the Kano State Sharia Court has jurisdiction to try blasphemy cases. The ruling comes after the case of Yahaya Aminu Sharif, a 22-year-old singer who was sentenced to death on accusations of blasphemy.  

Sharif was arrested after a series of audio recordings became public where he appeared to elevate an imam above the Muslim prophet Mohammed. In August 2020, the Kano State Sharia Court found Sharif guilty of blasphemy and sentenced him to death.  

However, the court did not allow Sharif legal representation during his trial, so the secular court ruled that the Sharia court must retry Sharif’s case. The order may have appeared positive for Sharif because it allowed him a fair trial. But the order was a green light by a secular court of the Sharia court’s authority to try blasphemy cases and impose religious sentences.  

The court’s actions blur the lines between who and what can be tried in Sharia court, having the potential to use Sharia law as a means of persecuting religious minorities, including northern Nigerian Christians, in the country. Immediately after the initial ruling, Sharif’s lawyers appealed the decision to send his case back to the Sharia Court for a retrial. Today’s ruling, that Sharif’s case be sent back to the Sharia Court for retrial, is the result of that appeal. 

Currently, the 12 northern states of Nigeria operate under two competing legal systems. One system—of which the Kano State High Court is a part—is based on the secular Nigerian penal code. The other is based on Sharia law.  

The constitutionality of this system has long been debated, as the Nigerian Constitution guarantees religious freedom to citizens, including the right to “to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.” Sharia courts, to the contrary, enforce strict adherence to Islam and severely punishes perceived insults to Islam. 

“Today’s High Court ruling represents a major setback for human rights in Nigeria overall,” said Jay Church, International Christian Concern’s (ICC) Advocacy Manager for Africa. “For a secular court to officially recognize a Sharia court’s jurisdiction to hand down death sentences for blasphemy is the largest step backward in Nigeria’s legal system since the implementation of criminal Sharia law in 2000. I hope that the international community, including the U.S. Department of State, recognizes this development for the egregious violation of human rights that it is.” 

“The court's decision is a strike against religious freedom in Nigeria and officially sets the legal structure for the continued persecution of Nigeria's Christians,” said Matias Perttula, ICC’s Director of Advocacy. “This decision was clearly a step back for all human rights, religious freedom, and freedom as a whole for Nigeria." 

The High Court order sparked condemnation from human rights advocates around the world. 

Commenting on the case earlier this year, Frederick Davie of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called on the High Court to release Sharif immediately. “Convicting this man on blasphemy charges for expressing his beliefs is reprehensible—and sentencing him to death for such actions is absurd. He does not deserve to be detained for two years, let alone sentenced to death.” 

For interviews, please contact: press@persecution.org.

Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of advocacy, awareness, and assistance. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.